Chelsea and Senegal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly showed his best form at the World Cup in Qatar despite struggling to settle into Graham Potter’s side at Stamford Bridge this season, according to The Guardian journalist Ed Aarons.
The summer signing will now return to Stamford Bridge after England knocked Senegal out of the competition, following a 3-0 defeat last weekend.
Chelsea news – Kalidou Koulibaly
Koulibaly arrived at Chelsea from Serie A side Napoli in the summer transfer window, signing for a fee believed to be in the region of £33m, as per Sky Sports.
Since then the centre-back has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, with the player himself suggesting to Sky Sports Italia that he needs a “period of adaption” having played in Italian football since 2014.
Having endured a period of transition having signed under German head coach Thomas Tuchel, before he was replaced by Graham Potter in September, the 31-year-old’s troubles have perhaps been understandable given the circumstances.
However, Aarons believes that Koulibaly was fantastic in Senegal’s World Cup campaign before their last 16 exit to England, having shown his “best form” at the tournament.
What has Aarons said about Chelsea and Koulibaly?
Aarons told GiveMeSport: “It's not been the greatest start to his Chelsea career.
I think most people would have thought that he would have played pretty much every game but it's taking him a bit of time to settle in at Stamford Bridge.
But he's shown his best form at this World Cup and he's led from the front with that goal against Ecuador to send Senegal through to the second round.
His partnership with the Diallo in central defence has been vital for Senegal.”
What next for Chelsea and Koulibaly?
Having impressed greatly at the World Cup, both Chelsea and Koulibaly will hope this is the beginning of a new lease of life for the centre-back at Stamford Bridge, and the former Napoli star can get back to his imperious best when the Premier League resumes at the end of the month.
The 68-time international played in every minute of Senegal’s solid World Cup campaign as captain as per Transfermarkt, and even scored a goal in the Lions of Teranga’s critical 2-1 group stage victory over Ecuador, to secure their place in the knockout stages of the competition.
A solid average Sofascore rating of 6.92 for his performances on the world’s biggest stage suggests that the 6 foot 1 defender has been a solid citizen at the back for his country at the tournament, and can now head back to west London with renewed confidence.
Therefore, both Koulibaly and Potter will be hopeful that his fortunes have turned come the restart to the Premier League season in a few weeks.